After all of the excitement last weekend at UFC 285, some might think it would be a tough act to follow. In reality, fans are wanting more, and they’ll get it with UFC Las Vegas live from The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. In the main event, former bantamweight champion Petr Yan is building his campaign for another shot to reclaim the hardware. To get there, he’ll have to hold off the Merab Dvalishvili in a battle of the second and third-ranked fighters in the division. The co-headliner is a heavyweight bout between Top 15 talents Alexander Volkov and Alexandr Romanov.
UFC Las Vegas Live Stream Details
- When: Saturday, March 11, 2023
- Preliminary Start Time: 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT
- Main Card Start Time: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
- Location: The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas – Las Vegas, Nevada
- UFC Las Vegas Live Stream: ESPN+
Two weeks after the UFC Fight Night headliner between No. 6 Nikita Krylov and No.8 Ryan Spann was canceled, the pair will meet for three rounds in a catchweight contest as the featured fight on the main card. They further add to a main card that will see No.14 bantamweight Said Nurmagomedov attempt to preserve his status against the unranked Jonathan Martinez.
The lineup for UFC Las Vegas made it halfway through fight week intact but, alas, a change had to be made on Wednesday, impacting the first fight of the preliminary card. It was announced that Abubakar Nurmagomedov was scratched from the event, but a reason wasn’t provided. Now, Carlston Harris will face Jared Gooden as Harris looked for this fourth-consecutive first-round finish. Gooden wasn’t on the UFC roster before the signing, though he has appeared in the Octagon before, most recently in 2021, departing with a 1-3 record in the promotion.
Main Event Preview
It has been just two years since Yan (16-4-0) lost his title to Aljamain Sterling because of an illegal elbow. To earn his shot at redemption against Sterling, the Russian fighter won his five-round contest against Cory Sandhagen. Since then, however, he’s found himself on the wrong end of a pair of split decisions, neither without controversy. The trio of losses is clearly the worst stretch of Yan’s career, and he’s hoping to right the ship against Dvalishvili. That will be a tall task, even for a former champion.
After an 0-2 start in the UFC, Dvalishvili (15-4-0) is on an eight-fight winning streak. Last August, he defeated another former champion, Jose Aldo, in what would prove to be the legend’s last appearance in the UFC. To date, that is the highest mark on Dvalishvili’s resume in the promotion. Though he is on a long winning streak, none of his victims are currently in the Top 15 rankings. Taking on Yan is going to be a challenge, and comes at a very crucial point in gauging the Georgian talent. In his eight wins, all but one have gone the distance.
While Dvalishivili has the momentum heading into Saturday’s main event, the edge seems to be with Yan. Not only does he have a higher level of experience, but Yan, 30, is two years younger, an inch taller, and hungry as ever. He’s also gone five rounds in the Octagon before, something that his opponent hasn’t done. All of these factors likely contribute to Yan being favored (-260) over Dvalishvili (+220). Yan is getting the win by decision is the most likely ending to this one, though a knockout victory isn’t too far behind. The odds are extremely long for Dvalishili to get the win by anything other than a decision (+330).
UFC Las Vegas Fight Card and Odds
*Odds Subject to change
Main Card
- #2 Petr Yan (-250) vs #3 Merab Dvalishvili (+210) – Bantamweight
- #8 Alexander Volkov (+140) vs #13 Alexandr Romanov (-165) – Heavyweight
- #6 Nikita Krylov (-170) vs #8 Ryan Spann (+145) – Catchweight
- Ricardo Ramos (-350) vs Austin Lingo (+290) – Featherweight
- #14 Said Nurmagomedov (-230) vs Jonathan Martinez (+195) – Bantamweight
- Vitor Petrino (-115) vs Anton Turkalj (-105) – Light Heavyweight
Preliminary Card
- Karl Williams (-240) vs Lukasz Brzeski (+200) – Heavyweight
- Raphael Assuncao (+120) vs Davey Grant (-140) – Bantamweight
- Sedriques Dumas (-215) vs Josh Fremd (+185) – Middleweight
- Mario Bautista (-975) vs Guido Cannetti (+675) – Bantamweight
- Ariane Lipski (+295) vs JJ Aldrich (-360) – Women’s Flyweight
- Victor Henry (-140) vs Tony Gravely (+120) – Bantamweight
- #15 Tyson Nam (+170) vs Bruno Silva (-200) – Flyweight
- Carlston Harris (-130) vs Jared Gooden (+100) – Welterweight
- Carlston Harris (-130) vs Abubakar Nurmagomedov (+100) – Welterweight – CANCELED
